Orlando, FL - Florida Atlantic University's men's golf team resumed play for the spring season in the UCF/Rio Pinar Intercollegiate at Rio Pinar Country Club in 13th place. Freshman Ben Gardner led the way for the Owls, shooting a 153 in the first two rounds.

Gardner, a former standout at Spanish River Community High School in Boca Raton, shot rounds of 77 and 76. Freshman Torstein Nevestad opened with an 84 but came back strong in the second round to shoot one-under par on the 6,978-yard, par 72 course. Michael Cleary, Tommy Suri and Anibal Ochoa finished with scores of 155, 158 and 161, respectively.

Florida Atlantic fired rounds of 316 and 300 to finish 34-strokes behind leader the University of South Alabama. Host UCF (578), Coastal Carolina (588), Lamar University (589), the University of Texas-Arlington (594) and Mercer University (594) round out the top five.

The Owls will conclude play in the UCF/Rio Pinar Intercollegiate on Tuesday, February 17.